“Do you think about the ROI of your spending in the grocery store?” Ben was teasing his wife, but he was also still trying to decide how to approach the issue of ROI in his practice. He wanted to get his partners on board with the idea of completing a Dream Practice Analysis, but he was facing some resistance.

“I guess in a way I do,” Carmen answered thoughtfully. “I consider fresh produce an investment in our family’s health and well-being, even if it costs more than chips. But groceries are usually an expense, not an investment. We have to buy food. That’s not the same as — what were you thinking about? Software?”

“Practice management software. We’ve been asked to take part in a Dream Practice Analysis. The object is to figure out how what kind of return on investment we’d get from practice management software.”

“Now, that’s a perfect example for ROI,” said Carmen, reaching for a jar of mustard. “Whatever the software can do, you could probably do yourselves with paper and pencil if you had the time and the skill. But automating some of those tasks can pay off big time by reducing current costs and helping you identify areas of opportunity. Software can be a very important investment and the ROI can be significant.”

“I guess that’s the key to the problem,” said Ben. He quickly compared the nutrition labels of two loaves of bread before tossing one into the basket. “It’s like these labels. You can’t tell which loaf has more fiber just by looking — taking the time to check the labels makes a difference. The partners feel like we can just look at the cost of the software and say yes or no. But I think the DPA might give us more accurate information.”

“Obviously,” Carmen agreed. “You know I looked at franchise opportunities before I decided to open my own pizzeria. A lot of them pointed to their management software as a big part of the value they provided for the franchise fees. The right software can replace a lot of worker hours, reduce errors that cost money, and keep your practice running smoothly. If you don’t have a handle on your finances, though, you can end up making bad investments.”

“I guess that’s why they’re worrying about. It’s not like we haven’t tried different software solutions. Some have been great and some have not.”

“If you make random choices about the investments you make in your company, you can expect random results,” Carmen said flatly. “I don’t mean to be harsh, but I can’t see why your partners can’t grasp that. You should never make an investment without running the numbers. If you have someone who will help you sort it out, it’s just common sense to let them help.”

What’s the ROI of a DPA?

Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.

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